


Team Philosophical Libertarianism

by That_One_Curly_Haired_Fangirl



Series: Destiel College AU [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, Fluff, M/M, philosophy class
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-14
Updated: 2014-11-14
Packaged: 2018-02-25 09:59:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2617706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/That_One_Curly_Haired_Fangirl/pseuds/That_One_Curly_Haired_Fangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A showdown about free will between Dean and Michael...</p><p> </p><p>...in their college philosophy class.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Team Philosophical Libertarianism

**Author's Note:**

> Philosophical terms are defined at the end. They're not the most complete, technical definitions, but it should be enough to understand this fic. 
> 
> This is what happened when a supernatural fangirl is required to take a tier one philosophy class.

This was it. 

The showdown over the existence of free will.

Philosophy class. 

They’d been discussing different views on whether humans were free lately. Dr. Moseley had started them off by defining free will and determinism for the class, then introduced the idea of Incompatibilism and Compatibilism. They’d started off learning about Hard Determinism, then moved on to Libertarianism. They were ending this section of the unit with a debate before they learned Compatibilism. 

Dean was representing Libertarianism and defending Free Will. He only did it because Castiel insisted that Dean should do it because he had a good public speaking voice. Dean had thought Cas should do it because they were in the same class and Cas paid more attention anyways, but Cas let Dean use his notes for the debate and assured him that Dean would be better. There may have also been some “convincing” going on behind the locked doors of their dorm rooms before class.

On the other side was Michael Cohen. Dean always hated him because he seemed so smug. Of course he would be taking the side of Hard Determinism once he saw Dean was arguing against it. The debate was set to begin at the start of class once Dr. Moseley finished with the administrative announcements. 

Once the class was settled and Dr. Moseley was finished talking, Dean and Michael went up to the podiums. Dean smiled as Cas gave him a thumbs up.

Michael was first. He glanced over the class, then began to speak. “Free will is an illusion. All choices people think they make are really just based on that person’s environment and possibly hereditary factors, depending on the decision. For example, the reason you took this class was due to the influence of outside forces, like the university requirement that we take a philosophy class and friend telling you this was a good teacher. Your choices are not your own.”

Dean glanced down at the notes on the podium (mainly Cas’) before looking back at the class and speaking up. “Free will does exist. Although people are not able to control everything, like their heart rate, we still have the ability to make some decisions. People aren’t just the product of their environment and genes. People can and have made decisions that contradict what their environment and heredity would predict. For example, there are people who come from families with a history of alcoholism, are raised around drinkers, but stay sober their whole lives.”

Michael scoffed. “There’s probably another influence there. Besides, there’s no scientific basis for free will. Nothing suggests our choices are anything more than brain function.”

Dean looked back at Michael. “Just because it’s in our brain doesn’t mean we didn’t chose it. Besides, some Libertarians believe people have an immaterial aspect that allows free will.”

Michael got an incredulous look again. “The soul? Really Dean? There’s absolutely no scientific basis for that either.”

Dean returned the challenging stare. “Just because science hasn’t found it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.”

The debate continued like that for another half hour until all the main points had been said and there was only 5 minutes left in class. With a glance to the clock Dr. Moseley gestured for them to stop, having already told them to make final arguments when there were 10 minutes left. 

As Dean and Michael returned to their seats she stood in the front of the room. “Alright, thank you for that. You will all write a response paper saying whether you support Hard Determinism or Libertarianism for next class.” She glanced at the clock. “You can go now.”

As everyone else filed out Dean put his notebook and binder back in his backpack and looked up when Cas walked up. “Why did I let you talk me into that?”

Cas just smiled as Dean got up and they walked out together. “Hey, I thought you did great. You had me convinced.” He paused to give Dean a quick kiss on the lips. “You got me on team free will with you.”

Dean just smiled and reached down to take Cas’ hand. “Thanks babe. Want to go get food before next class? I heard they have pie in all the dining halls today.”

Cas just smiled and shook his head. “You and pie. Should I be jealous?”

Dean just laughed as they walked out of the building.

**Author's Note:**

> Philosophical terms:  
> Free will: a person has choices and the ability to choose any option  
> Determinism: a person has no control over their decisions because they are controlled by something else (environment, heredity, a higher power, etc.)  
> Incompatibilism: the belief that free will and determinism cannot both be true  
> Compatibilism: the belief that it is possible for both free will and determinism to be true  
> Hard Determinism (also called Hard Incompatibilism): the belief that people are determined (cannot make their own decisions) and free will does not exist  
> Libertarianism: the belief that people have free will
> 
> Also to those of you waiting on my next chaptered story, it may be a little bit longer. We're reaching the end of the semester so I'm a little low on writing time. I do have other shorter things I'll be putting up though.
> 
> Anyways, let me know what you think!


End file.
